We have more in common than you knew
by starspawn07
Summary: Spawn meets Alucard. One shot crossover. Please read & review.


**We have more in common than you knew …**

By Starspawn07

Disclaimers:

The following story is not completely in accord with cannon. I'd be glad if you can tell me about any 'mistakes' you see in it.

I do not own any of the characters or plot devices mentioned.

Credits to:

Todd McFarlane & co. who created _Spawn_.

Kouta Hirano, creator of _Hellsing_.

Geneon Entertainment, Inc & Satelight animation studios, who produced _Hellsing(OVA)._

Francis Ford Coppola & co. who filmed _Bram Stoker's Dracula_.

* * *

-

The stone trail wound its way through the dark woods. On both sides spaced at regular intervals were black lamp posts of a design that made one feel as if he were walking through a park in the Victorian Era. A thin fog hung in the air, and gave whatever dim light there was a hazy quality. The sun had not risen yet. Through the crisscrossing branches of the treetops above, one could make out the dim, black-red sky.

Occasionally a group of people would appear in the distance and race each other along the trail, shouting and panting, "Hey ho, hey ho …". Other than that it was all quiet except for the chirping of crickets.

A lone figure could be seen walking slowly in the middle of the trail. On his head was a blue woolen cap and a thick blue woolen towel was wrapped around his face. He wore what appeared to be a heavy, dark red sweater, and black pants.

He looked at his feet as he prodded on, ignoring anybody who passed by him. Not even the cold could get to him.

So deep in thought he was, that he did not see the figure running towards him from the front.

Then he felt someone bump into his side.

"Oops, excuse me."

Instinctively, he spun around, and shot his left hand forward, catching the clumsy fellow in the arm. "Give it back." He said in a low, cold voice. "And don't do it again."

There followed a tense moment in which the tall-framed boy in a blue jacket and jeans tried to break free from the vice-like grip. Realising that he could not escape, he turned around and held out the golden necklace before him, then pleaded "Please don't call the coppers sir. I had no choice. I needed money badly !"

"I know." The figure in blue cap replied coldly. He took the necklace from the boy's hand and gazed down at it for another moment. There was a small round, golden box attached to the middle of the necklace, which he flicked open to reveal the photograph of a happy-looking African American couple. Below their smiling faces were the words "Al & Wanda" scribbled across the picture.

"My God, she looks beautiful. You must be Al, right ?" The boy exclaimed softly, hoping to distract the man from the fact that the latter just ran into a pickpocket.

At this Al shoved the necklace back into a pocket within his sweater and stared forward at the boy's face. The latter took a step back and froze, his face paling.

_Something in my stare ?_Al thought to himself. _Ha, if I could just stare those mtherfckers away, I wouldn't have to go through all that Armageddon bllsht._

Then Al saw the boy's eyes widen and jaw drop, in shock it seemed.

_Ok, I should stop staring at him now. _Just as Al was about to say, "Relax, kid … " he noticed that the boy wasn'treally looking at him.

He immediately spun around, to where the boy was apparently staring dumbfounded at, and he, too, gaped in surprise.

* * *

-

There was no light in the huge office except for the table-lamp shining down onto the desk. There were also two large windows through which one could make out the dim, red, overcast sky that one sees at 6 in the morning.

On one side of the desk, with her back to the windows, there sat a blond, blue-eyed, bespectacled woman in a white suit. She was propping her face up with her right hand and tapping her fingers furiously on the desk.

A tall imposing figure in a crimson-coloured trench coat and wide hat came within the glow of the table lamp. He was handsome, dark haired, and wore a pair of glasses with a shiny orange sheen on each lens. He bowed and spoke in a reenacted formal tone, "At your service, Master."

The blond woman crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow in a condescending manner. "I thought you always prided yourself on your punctuality, Alucard."

"Sorry, Master. Police Girl was having some terrible nightmares. It took some time to calm her down. You should have heard her story … monsters with glowing green blood … fascinating … " Alucard shook his head and grinned, revealing his menacing fangs.

"You can tell me later. Have a look at these." The blond woman pushed a set of white cards on the desk forward.

Alucard picked them up and flipped them over. They were photographs of dead men in dull, tattered cloths. Their bodies were mutilated and twisted in grotesque angles, and some of them had expressions of unfathomable terror frozen onto their faces.

"Fascinating …" Alucard let out a sadistic chuckle as he sifted through the images. " … though I fail to see how Integra Helsing, the head of an organization of vampire-slayers, would concern herself with …" He stopped as he fixed his gaze on one of the pictures. It depicted a blurry, cloaked figure silhouetted against the dim red night sky, and standing on top of a building. As Alucard looked closely at what appeared to be its face, he noticed that its eyes seemed to be glowing a ghastly lime green. "… I see." Alucard grinned with excitement.

The woman known as Integra took a deep breath and pushed another slip of paper forward. It was the print-out of an online news report. "In the past few weeks, there has been a string of mysterious murders. All of the victims turned out to be recalcitrant robbers or mobsters who frequented the slums and suburbs of London …"

"And you suspect that this creature was responsible for them ?" Alucard's grin widened as he put the photographs down.

"We can't suspect anything yet," Integra replied. "but whatever it is, we must find it fast."

"Consider it done, Master." Alucard stepped back. There was a red glow from underneath him. Then he sank right through the floor, like a heavy statue being lowered into the water. Before Integra could stop him, he had completely vanished from the room.

"Have fun, doggy." Integra stood up, stretched and yawned. Then she bent over to switch off the table-lamp, and walked over to the door of the office.

* * *

-

"Wanda, I am sorry." Al said hesitantly.

"It's alright." replied the woman with long curly hair and wearing a grey sweater and jeans.

"You shouldn't have come here. I … I am not the same Al you knew. I have certain … things … to take care of." Al looked to his side.

The boy was still standing there, staring at the both of them.

"Leave things be. Come home with me."

Al felt a hand caress his cheek. "I can't. Besides, I don't wanna live in Manhattan anymore."

The hand stopped. "What's wrong with Manhattan ?"

With a start, Al jerked himself free of the embrace and jumped a few steps back. "Who the fck are you ? What do you want with me ? "

Wanda, or what appeared to be Wanda, put her hand to her mouth. "What are you talking about, I am your wife !"

"Wanda and I never lived in Manhattan." Al's frigid voice returned to him.

The woman standing in front of him let out a chilling laughter. "Seems you have gotten over your guilt pretty fast. O well, I'd have to take you out the old way."

Then she screamed and arched her back. There was the sound of bones cracking and leather tearing. She began to increase in height as her arms and legs seemed to grow longer. Her teeth elongated into murderous-looking, sinister fangs. Her eyes turned a gold colour as her pupils narrowed into slits. Long sharp talons extended from the tips of her fingers. A thick smoke erupted from within her cloths and engulfed her whole body. Long, thick, ram like horns protruded and curled their way out of her head. Finally, her cloths were all ripped and burnt up, revealing a brown leathery skin underneath with scars and ridges arranged symmetrically all over it. She looked like an overgrown, humanoid, predatory insect.

"You still look as sick as ever, Lami." Al muttered, undisturbed by the horrifying transformation.

Then he recalled something, and quickly looked to his side. "Get out of here, kid !"

The boy just stood there rooted to the ground, too frightened to do anything.

The next moment, Al felt a large shape whiz past him from behind, and before he could react, Lami had wrapped her large hands around the boy, pressing his arms close to his body. The latter did not struggle anyway, because he was absolutely petrified. The last thing he saw was the demoness's gaping throat as she stretched her elongated jaws wide apart and clamped them around his head. Then she twisted and jerked her head violently.

There was a splatter of blood and the sound of bone and windpipe being crushed, and the boy's headless body fell lifelessly to the ground. With one gulp, Lami swallowed the large blood drenched object held between her jaws, and licked her lips with her long black forked tongue. "One less witness…"

Al staggered back and choked in despair. "No … not again."

Lami turned and walk over towards Al. She pressed her bloodied face close to his. "Lord Mammon would like to convey his thanks to you for single-handedly defeating the armies of Heaven and Hell. If you join him, he has promised that you will become an important part of his new world order !"

"And how long will his new world order last ? A few days ?" Al spat.

Lami narrowed her eyes and hissed. "You think you still call the shots, Hellspawn ? You are a god no more. Now you either join us, or die !"

To her surprise, Al just laughed at the threat. "Fine with me ! As far as I am concerned, I'm already dead !"

The red sweater Al was wearing swelled up and turned into a smooth, flowing, red shroud. It expanded and wrapped itself around the whole of his body.

Then Lamia felt something blunt hit her belly with overwhelming force, and she was thrown back several metres, off the trail and into the woods, hunching over in pain.

When she looked up she saw, silhouetted against the dim light from the lamp posts nearby, a formidable-looking figure dressed in a tight black suit which covered the whole of his head as well. Zigzagging white stripes converged in front of his chest into a large M with a low tip in the middle. A curled stripe the shape of a budding fern frond went up each of his cheeks and ended on the top of his head. A large red mantle-like cape flapped and churned in the breeze. His eyes emitted a lime-green glow.

Lamia grimaced and leapt forward.

Immediately, Spawn jumped backwards as two metal chains sprang out from his back. Rows of metallic spikes lined the length of each chain. At the latter's tip was a small, sharp dagger. The chains shot forward and struck at his enemy like the tentacles of a giant squid.

Lami growled in pain as one dagger impaled her below her ribcage, and the other chain wrapped itself around her neck. A thick, translucent and fluorescent green fluid seeped out from where the spikes dug into her flesh.

Instinctively, she shape-shifted into the nearest person she could think of.

"Wait, don't do it, Dad !".

Spawn stared in shock at the figure of the teenage girl held in his chains. "Cyan !" He began to loosen his hold on her.

"You wouldn't kill your own daughter would you ?" The teenage girl pleaded.

For a moment, Spawn did not move.

Lami grinned as the chains fell off her body and were withdrawn.

Then Spawn snapped out of his daze and whipped his lethal chains forward again.

Just then there were a few loud gun shots, and short bursts of light. Sparks flew everywhere and metal chains where thrown about in random directions.

Spawn felt something small but blunt hit him in his left shoulder with such force that it dug several centimetres into his shoulder and knocked him over to his right, neon green mist gushing out and trailing from his wound.

Wincing in irritation, Spawn shoved his claws into the wound and tore out the offending projectile – a large silvery bullet.

He threw it onto the ground angrily as the gaping wound in his shoulder quickly closed itself.

He looked around, and saw that Lami had gone. He cursed Heaven, Earth and Hell, and turned to his side. _I must get outta here._

And that was when he saw, standing a few metres from him on the stone trail, a tall figure in a crimson trench coat and wide hat. Underneath the trench coat the figure wore a black suit and trousers, and a large white bowtie. The figure was holding out its right arm in front of it, and in its white gloved right hand there was a large black gun. With its other gloved hand it pushed its orange- hued glasses up its nose ridge, raised its eyebrows and grinned, revealing a set of vampiric dentition. "Well, well. I never thought I'd see get to meet another Hellspawn. So what brings you to this humble island of ours ? Is the Devil so desperately in need of souls again ?"

"None of your business." Spawn held out both his hands at chest level. His red shroud flowed over from behind him and seemed to surround his whole body, then quickly subsided, and when it did, in each of Spawn's hands there was a perfect replica of the large black gun wielded by the figure standing in front of him. "And who the hell are _you_ ?"

"I am Alucard of the Hellsing Organisation." The figure replied "I smelled the scent of blood from miles away." It looked down at the boy's headless corpse lying in a pool of blood nearby on the ground. "So you _are_ responsible for those murders."

"And what if I am ?" Spawn narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his weapons.

"Then I have orders to capture you !" Without warning, a few loud bangs and dim flashes went up from Alucard's gun.

Spawn immediately leapt up as three silver bullets struck the pavement below and behind him, scoring deep gashes and hurling sparks and debris forward for another metre. They were aimed at his legs, he realized, as he pointed his guns at Alucard and squeezed the trigger several times while sailing several metres up and over the vampire's head.

To his surprise, Alucard did not even try to dodge the bullets. Instead, the latter kept his gaze on his opponent with a maniacal grin on his face, and calmly returned fire as bullet wounds exploded all over his body.

Spawn was landing in a sprawling position behind Alucard, just as the latter spun around to face him, and fired another shot which hit Spawn in his right knee the moment his feet touched the ground. It went clean through his knee cap with a -pop- and drew a splash of glowing green necroplasmic fluid from the resulting wound.

"Sht." The hellspawn swore in frustration, and fell on his left knee.

He looked up at his opponent, who was riddled with bloody holes now. Yet, somehow the latter maintained an expression of mild excitement, as if he was enjoying all this.

"Got you !" Alucard smiled wickedly and pulled the trigger again. Nothing happened. _Out of bullets_, he realized, as he lowered his weapon and let out a whisper of amusement. "Seems we are going to have some fun after all."

_I can finish him_, Spawn smirked as his knee slowly healed itself. He stretched his right arm to his side. It began to glow bright green, and its surface rippled like molten metal being poured over a stick. Dissolving into raw necroplasm, the hand extended itself and was gradually molded into a short broad sword.

"Go to hell, mtherfcker !" Spawn leapt forward and dashed towards Alucard in a blur of black and red.

The next moment, Spawn swung his wrist-sword horizontally forward. It sliced right through Alucard's neck and the latter's severed head tumbled through the air from the force of the blow, dark red blood trailing behind it, before hitting the ground with a thud. Even in this condition, Alucard still had his disturbing maniacal grin on him.

Then Spawn felt a shooting pain in his chest, and looked down to see that Alucard had somehow raised his left hand and shoved it through Spawn's heart, as if impaling the latter on a spear.

Suddenly, he heard a mad resounding laughter that would freeze the blood of any mortal who heard it.

Spawn quickly pushed himself free of Alucard's impaling hand, just as a pitch black haze emerged from the base of Alucard's head, as well as between Alucard's shoulders and from his bullet wounds. Then the crazily laughing head convulsed and exploded into a swarm of moths, blowflies and bats, and some unidentifiable winged vermins. They flew over and coalesced on top of Alucard's body, and gradually formed a new head. All his wounds started closing as well, and there was a soft clattering as bullet shells dropped to the ground at his feet.

The vampire raised his hands palms down to waist level, and his expression settled into one of deep concentration. "Sorry, hellspawn, I'd be glad to play around a little longer, but my Master has told me to finish this quickly. See you in the mansion !"

Spawn looked on in surprise as Alucard's shadow began to expand and cover a large area in the surroundings. It spread utter darkness as it seemed to engulf the trees, the pavement, the lampposts, everything, like fast-growing weeds.

Soon Spawn could see nothing around him, except for the faint figure in a red trench coat standing before him. "You can't take me down with stupid cheap illusions." Spawn boasted.

"Of course." Alucard smiled, as a large red, glowing pentagram appeared beneath their feet, and the both of them began sinking through the surface of the ground. "I am taking you _down_ right about now …"

* * *

-

The dim blue-grey glow of the overcast morning sky flooded into the large office through two large windows with classical-style metal grills.

Integra yawned and looked across her desk with weary eyes. "I'm sorry, what did you say ?"

The middle aged, dark-skinned man in a dark red T-shirt and black pants seated opposite her pressed his hands onto the edge of the desk and replied in an exasperated voice. " I. Did. Not. Murder. Those. People."

The figure in a black suit and large white bowtie standing beside the desk, and clutching a folded red trenchcoat in his arms, chuckled. "Of course you did not. You only claimed their souls."

Integra looked at him and raised her eyebrows curiously. "Alucard, if you know something about this man, just tell me now !"

Alucard smirked. "Well, firstly, he's an American."

Integra glared at her servant with a 'more-meaningless-babble-and-I-will-shoot-your-balls-off' expression.

Alucard raised a hand and laughed. "Haha. OK, OK. Now for the serious part." Alucard coughed and drew a deep breath, then made a mild gesture with his hand, as if he were reciting an epic. "This man is a hellspawn. A human turned minion of the Devil, or devils, whichever you prefer. He kills in his master's name and claims mortal souls to be enlisted into the armies of Hell…"

"That was long ago. I don't work for noone right now." The dark-skinned man immediately interjected.

"Oh." Integra replied nonchalantly. "Then what exactly do you do now, Mr hellspawn ?"

Mr hellspawn looked down at his lap and sighed. "I … I'm not sure … I have no idea what my place in this world is anymore."

Integra studied the person she was interrogating carefully. Nothing special. Sure, he looked strong, but it did not seem as if he was worth the attention of the Hellsing Organisation at all. Of course, she recalled, the same would be said of Alucard if she met him somewhere other than in the Hellsing cellar. Just as Integra was about to let her eyelids fall and doze off due to boredom, she heard Alucard's voice in her head.

_If that's the case, Master, I have an idea._

_No, no more of your bright ideas! We already have Seras, and she's enough trouble already, _she thought back

_I assure you, Master, this one is quite different from Police Girl._

_You better be right, Alucard, or I'll shoot your –_

_You won't have to, Master. I just fought him hours ago. He will fare quite well, I'm sure._

Integra held her hands together, leaned forward and forced a smile on her tired face. "Alright then, would you be interested in joining our organization, Mr … "

The man she was forcedly smiling at looked up and stared for a few seconds at her in surprise. "…Simmons … Al Simmons..."

Integra held out a hand. "Integra Helsing. You can call me Sir Helsing."

* * *

-

Al looked out through the row of windows of the red-carpeted corridor. He could see the dimly lit courtyard and side gates of the helsing mansion. A few trees here, a few guards stationed there. Further out, he could make out the streets and short buildings of London. Even further out, it was too dark and foggy to distinguish anything except for a few points of lights.

The sky was still overcast, and a dim white glow shone through occasionally from somewhere above the thick, rolling clouds.

_Beautiful_, Al smiled.

"Thinking of someone ?" Alucard came up beside him.

Al glared at his new friend.

"No I didn't." Alucard assured him. "I could tell just by looking."

"Some people yes." Al looked back at the scenery outside. "I left my country to try and forget them. But you know, your past always catches up with you somehow."

"I know." Alucard replied and nodded slightly.

Al looked up again at the sky outside. The dim white glow was getting brighter. It was mesmerizing to watch.

Just then there was a loud noise of glass shattering, and the both of them looked to their left.

At a spot some metres away from them down the corridor, the floor was littered with broken glass.

"Smashed window", Alucard observed. "The lady of the house is going to get really mad." Alucard grinned at the thought.

Then he spotted some movement in the shadow between two shafts of dim skylight shining in through the windows.

"Look's like you've just got a break-in." Al turned and walked towards the broken window.

Alucard did the same. _Some burglar_, he thought, _to be able to get past the guards and be daring enough to crash into the Helsing mansion in broad, albeit dim, daylight_. He grinned and tensed up in anticipation of the spectacle to come.

The blurry figure in the shadows stepped into the light, and Al stopped in his tracks, eyes wide in disbelief. "How … I thought you were …"

"Oh but I _was_ …" It was the figure of a gorgeous –looking woman with long fiery-red hair. She wore nothing but a pair of golden breastplates, gold and leather gauntlets, thin leather boots, a golden mantle covering her right shoulder and a leather belt with a short tunic draping down from it and a golden sheathed sword strapped to its side.

Her upper face was covered by a black mask, and above that was a golden headband with what appeared to be golden wings sprouting up from either side.

In her right hand she held a large, finely crafted golden halberd by the pole. From the base of the halberd's blade a long thin strip of purple cloth with intricate designs and inscriptions running its entire length wound down and drifted around the woman's body.

"Malbogia cut my head off, remember ?" The woman approached Al with a sneer on her lips.

A flood of memories overwhelmed Al, and he fell on his knees, looking down at his hands. "It should have been me …"

Alucard regarded the woman with slight amusement. _A hellspawn, and a spawn-slayer, in one day_ _! The world sure knows how to keep an old vampire entertained !_

Alucard looked on even more amused at the way Al was kneeling down before the woman sighing and muttering in a sorrowful tone, as if he owed this woman something.

Alucard turned his gaze back on the woman herself. He sensed something weird about her, but at the moment he could not point out what it was. All he could do was watch.

She was standing right in front of Al now. She placed a hand on his cheek. "It's alright. Mammon has brought me back." Al looked up with a start.

"Come with me, Spawn." She said in a seemingly placid tone. "My new Lord wants to meet you …"

Al just stared up at her, with a mixture of confusion and longing.

A few seconds of silence. "I … I …" Al stuttered.

Just then a loud gunshot reverberated through the corridor, and Al fell back in shock as the middle of the woman's right arm exploded in a splash of thick, green, glowing fluid.

Al heard the voice of Alucard from behind him. "Ha, a demon, just as I thought ..."

Then Al recovered his senses and jumped back onto his feet. "You are sick, Lami ! Sick !" He shouted as the dark red T-shirt he was wearing swelled up and expanded into a smooth red shroud that wrapped itself around his entire body, and then lifted back, settling into a large flapping cape which draped up and also down from the shoulder of Spawn.

Lamia pressed her hand onto her right arm and grimaced in pain. _Sht, I just found a disguise that works and now it's blown. Think, Lami, think ! _She thought as she saw spiked chains spring out from spawn's back and shoot towards her.

"Wait, don't you want to see Angela again ?" She cried hurriedly. The daggers stopped just inches from her chest and face, and began withdrawing from her. She sighed in relief and grinned. "You really miss her don't you ? You would do anything to bring her back, because it was your fault that she died, wasn't it ?"

Spawn stood staring blankly at her, not knowing what to do.

_Good, _she thought, _give me more time_. She looked over to Alucard. "Don't interfere in our business, vampire ! "

To her surprise, Alucard shrugged and replied. "As you wish !"

Her wound had almost closed now. Cautiously, she approached Spawn with a slight grin on her face. She had almost got him, but she still needed to be careful. She had only led a short existence as a demon, not even half the hellspawn's age. Her powers could do little more than cloud Spawn's judgement for a little while.

"Lord Mammon has the power to resurrect the dead, Spawn. Mortal, Demon or Angel." She whispered to him. "Join us, and you do not have to live with this sorrow."

Alucard, now leaning up against a wall, muttered in amusement, "Resurrect the dead you say ? Fascinating …"

Spawn looked at the face of the woman standing in front of him. Such a likeness, the expressions, the glance, the voice …

And then in his mind's eye a horrible scene appeared before him.

* * *

-

All around him was the red glow of hot, flowing lava and flames belching up to the ceiling of the enormous black cavern.

He was being tied in chains to a rock jutting out of the lava. On another rock before him was the figure of a red-haired woman scantily clad in a suit of tattered golden armour.

Towering above them both was a gigantic creature whose entire skin was in ghastly orange flames. It's jaws were bursting with long, sharp teeth like those of a deep-sea anglerfish. Ram like horns curved forward from the top of its head. Its slanted, slit like eyes emitted a lime green glow. Its long arms ended in sharp, sword-like claws.

The creature's lower jaw extended downwards in a grotesque manner and a bellowing voice resounded through the cavern. "So you made your choice, Spawn. This is the consequence."

"No !" He screamed as a flaming blade shot down and sliced through the woman's neck. "I'll kill you, Malbogia !"He struggled against the chains.

Then suddenly the glow of the lava dimmed and turned lime green. The cavern walls and rocks turned from brown to dark blue, and he looked up in horror to see that in place of Malbogia, there stood the figure of an even bigger monster with black skin and bat-like wings sprouting from its back.

"Join me, and you can have her back !" Mammon thundered.

"I … I …"

Then everything turned black, and Spawn realized that the chains around him were gone as well.

"Feeble minded twerp." A familiar voice laughed.

"Alucard, is that you ?" Spawn shouted out.

Here and there in the darkness, large red eyes opened up and stared down at the hellspawn.

"Open your eyes, Al, and see !" the voice said, and then laughed again.

Soon the laughter faded, and the darkness cleared.

Al found himself standing at the edge of a crowd of oddly dressed people. He looked around. They were in what appeared to be a medieval-style church, dimly lit by candles. Flanked on both sides by small groups of people, a pathway in the middle led up to a platform on which a huge wooden cross was placed. Kneeling in front of this cross was a man dressed in a suit of armour that consisted of fine steel plates and mail. A knight, though Al had never heard of medieval armour that looked like this. The knight held his hands together and seemed to be saying a prayer.

After a while, he got up to his feet, turned and walked down the platform, towards the door of the church hall.

"Vlad !" A young female voice shouted.

Then from within the crowds, a young woman dressed in a white gown ran up to the knight, whispered something in his ear, and kissed him.

They embraced for a while. Then the knight called Vlad turned and walked out through the open door of the church, while his lady looked on at his departing silhouette.

The whole scene dissolved, and Al now found himself in the middle of a great plain. Smoky clouds darkened the sky, while a thin mist blurred the horizon.

To one side, he could make out a line of what appeared to be mounted knights, one of which he recognized as Vlad.

At the far end of the plain, Al could make out another line of horsemen, some dressed in mail, some wearing turbans and robes. As well as lances, these horsemen also carried bows and sabers.

From somewhere in the field, an arrow flew down and struck one of Vlad's comrades in the chest. Vlad shouted something angrily in an East European language, and suddenly the whole line of knights charged forward.

The bow-wielding horsemen charged as well.

A bloody battle ensued. Arrows rained down on the soldiers of both sides, as it turned out that Vlad had some archers at his service as well.

Vlad was knocked off his horse, but continued wading through the battlefield, impaling anybody who came at him with his long, heavy lance.

In the end, it seemed, Vlad was victorious. Bloodied and bruised, he stepped over several dead bodies, knelt, plunged his sword into the ground and looked up to the sky. After saying a prayer, he quickly got up and staggered off into the distance.

Again, the scene dissolved, and Al found himself back inside the church. Only this time, the crowd, was gone. In the middle of the hall was a stone platform on top of which lay the lifeless body of a young woman which Al realized was Vlad's lover from earlier on.

A few old men in priestly garb stood around her.

Then the door to the hall was thrown open, and Vlad stepped in hurriedly. He ran over to the young woman's side.

One priest muttered something to him, and handed him an arrow and two slips of paper.

Vlad read what was written on the paper, and slammed his fists onto the ground, crying out in anguish.

The priest muttered something to him again, and placed a hand on his shoulder, but leapt back in shock as Vlad swatted it away.

The knight stood up and began shouting madly at the priests. He pointed up at the huge wooden cross and swore, then ran up and wrapped his hands around it, lifting it clear off the platform.

Some of the priests rushed to stop him, but Vlad swung the cross at them, knocking them over with such force that they collapsed dead onto the floor below.

Al watched in horror as Vlad drew his sword and killed the other priests in a fit of rage.

The mad knight impaled the last remaining priest in the chest. Blood gushed out like a fountain, which Vlad caught in his palms and greedily drank.

A black haze arose from Vlad's feet and engulfed his entire body. It continued spreading until it blotted out everything, and the whole scene became black.

Gradually, a thin mist came into view, and Al realized he was sitting inside an old horse -drawn carriage. Beside him, completely oblivious to his presence, there sat a pale skinned old man in a black coat.

The carriage drew to a halt, and Al saw the old man talking to two other men standing outside the carriage.

Suddenly, one of them pulled out a gun, and pointed it at the old man, shouting something incomprehensible at him. _Robbers_, Al thought.

To Al's surprise, the old man simply smiled, then screeched and lunged forward at the robber holding a gun. There was a flurry of black and white, splatters of blood, gunshots and the sound of bones being crushed. Before he knew it, the two robbers were dead. The old man now seemed to look younger than before, and Al could make out a familiar visage.

As soon as he realized who the vampire was, his vision turned blood red. As the red haze lifted, he found himself standing in the middle of a large clearing. In front of him was a middle aged man in a brown coat holding a wooden stake over another figure in a black coat who was leaning down against a tombstone. Even without that maniacal grin, Al could tell who the latter was.

"Alucard ?"Al called out, but the two men ignored him.

"… my words shall endure forever …" the man in the brown coat plunged the wooden stake through Alucard's heart, drawing a splash of dark red blood. Alucard threw up blood as well.

" Have I been … defeated ?" Alucard muttered meekly.

The man in the brown coat replied grimly. "Yes you have been defeated. This is no nightmare from which you'll soon awaken. Gone is your castle and principality. Your loyal minions -- dead to the last. The Host's mark, too, leaves her precious flesh. She shall never become yours."

With that, the man raised his fist and punched Alucard hard in the face. Blood spurted out from the vampire's mouth, as the violent blow threw him backwards. His assailant caught him in the collar and brought him close to his own angry face. "Count … you have nothing left ! You pathetic No Life King … You've nothing. Nothing !"

Then Alucard's body went limp.

"No !" Al shouted.

* * *

-

"No !" Spawn pushed Lami away.

Still dressed as a Spawn-slayer, Lami raised her halberd. "Then die, hellspawn !" She brought the halberd down on Spawn's head.

There was a splash of dark red blood, and Lami gaped in shock as she saw the tall figure in a black suit standing before her. The blade was lodged in the middle of the man's upper body, splitting his head and chest in two, tearing and tattering in half what appeared to be a maniacal grin on his face.

"I told you not to interfere !" Lami barked and jerked her halberd backwards. There was another splash of blood, and Alucard's body collapsed to the floor.

The next moment she winced as two long spiked chains pierced through her shoulder and chest from her left, throwing her to her side and pinning her with her back to the wall. The impact knocked the air out of her lungs. She wanted to catch Spawn by surprise, but now it was the other way round.

Spawn brought his face close to hers. His eyes narrowed and the glow in his eyes brightened into a furious green glare. "One question before I squeeze off your head."

Lami squirmed as Spawn closed his fingers around her neck.

"How do you know what Angela looked like, and how did a pathetic demon like you come to possess her weapon ?"

"A pathetic demon like me ? You mean a pathetic demon who was born just after Angela's death ?" Lami chuckled then coughed as she felt the hand around her neck tighten its grip.

"Answer the fcking ques –" Something hit Spawn in the mind, and in shock he loosened his grip and staggered backwards. His chains fell off their victim and clanked onto the floor below.

Lami took the chance to leap to one side and dash past him, crashing out through another window.

Slowly, Spawn turned and looked out through the enormous jagged hole in the glass pane.

Lami was standing in the middle of the courtyard below and looking up at him with mocking grin. "You know, Spawn, you should stop thinking about those who have died and just worry about those who are alive !"

With that she leapt over the outer wall of the mansion and disappeared round a far corner.

Al heard footsteps behind him, followed by a familiar chuckle of amusement.

"Took you long enough, bloodsucker." Al muttered. "You could have killed her, why didn't you ?"

"You could have killed her too." Came Alucard's reply. "Why didn't you ?"

"I don't know…" Al looked down silently at the courtyard below. Then he thought about Lami's parting words, and looked up with a start. "Sht, I need to go back ! Wanda … it's not safe !" He exclaimed.

Alucard laughed and spread his arms. "Well, good to have met you, hellspawn. Do remember to come visit England again. Our fight is not finished yet."

"All in good time, Alucard" Al returned the laughter. "And thanks for just now."

Alucard flashed him a toothy, but warm grin. "We have more in common than you knew…"

* * *

OK, that's all folks, time to select 'submit review' and type in a word or two ! 

For those of you who wondered why I posted this under Anime- Hellsing rather than Comics- Spawn, it's because I am more familiar with Hellsing than with Spawn ( but I think Spawn is dead cool too !) Yep, it's safer here.

Hope you enjoyed the story,

And have a nice day !

- Starspawn07


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